Wright holds strong hand with top pair in Budweiser

Last Sunday at Emerald Downs, trainer Blaine Wright swept the first two stakes races at the meet with Executive Chef taking down the $50,000 Auburn for 3-year-olds and Slick Tide taking them all the way in the $50,000 Seattle for 3-year-old fillies.

Wright is looking for more success Sunday when he saddles Top Executive, Windribbon, and Torpedo Away in the $50,000 Budweiser for 3-yearolds and up. Wright will also be represented by Maybe I Will in the $50,000 Hastings. However, she figures to be a longshot in the six-furlong dash for fillies and mares that drew seven horses and goes as race seven on the 10-race card that begins at 2:15 p.m. Pacific.

Top Executive and Windribbon figure to be among the favorites in the six-furlong Budweiser, which drew a strong field of 10 horses. It goes as race 9 with an approximate post time of 3:39 p.m.

Top Executive is going for his fifth straight win at Emerald and was making his second start as 4-year-old when he edged Papa’s Golden Boy in a conditioned allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option May 28.

With Alex Cruz aboard, Top Executive looked like he was going to have to settle for being the runner-up when Papa’s Golden Boy opened up a clear lead in midstretch in the 5 1/2 furlong sprint. However, Papa’s Golden Boy got tired, and Top Executive closed with determination to win by a head. In his previous start, he did not fire while running on Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields in the $77,250 Lost in the Fog on April 30.

A Kentucky-bred son of Street Boss, Top Executive was the top 3-year-old at Emerald last year with wins in the $50,000 Auburn, $50,000 Irish Day, and $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby.

He will break from post 4 with Cruz up. He should get a nice trip stalking what figures be a fast and contested pace.

Windribbon closed out 2021 with a heartbreaking loss to Background in the Grade 3 Longacres Mile and will try to make amends for finishing third as the favorite in the same race Top Executive exits.

Torpedo Away looks to be in tough while making his first start on dirt.

Papa’s Golden Boy won the Budweiser last year and he looked like he was home and cooled out but tired late when Top Executive nailed him at the wire in his first start this year.

The Washington-bred 6-yearold gelding by Harbor the Gold went into the race off a series of moderate works for trainer Vince Gibson, who appears to have tightened the screws when he sent out Papa’s Golden Boy for a bullet half-mile move in 45.00 seconds June 18.

Papa’s Golden Boy will have plenty of speed to deal with, most notably Anyportinastorm, who won the Budweiser in 2019 before his narrow loss in the Longacres Mile for Wright. The 8-year-old Florida-bred horse by City Zip was making his first start for trainer Frank Lucarelli when he finished seventh as the favorite in the $50,000 George Royal at Hastings on June 4.

Five Star General could be dangerous making his second start for trainer Doris Harwood. The Grade 3 British Columbia Derby winner was the runner-up in the Longacres Mile in 2020 and third last year for the owner-trainer Glen Todd, who died this spring. It would be fitting if Five Star General wins, as Emerald is having a video tribute to Todd before the fifth race.

Five Star General got off to a poor start when he finished fourth in Top Executive’s win May 28.

Hastings Stakes

The Dan Markle-trained Ima Happy Cat will try to win the

Hastings for the third time. She took them all the way in last year’s rendition and in 2019.

A 7-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger, Ima Happy Cat is a 10-time winner with $318,239 in earnings. She does not need the lead to win so jockey Kevin Radke will have options, depending on how she breaks from post 2.

Daffodil Sweet, trained by Nicolo Troiani looks like the main threat and could be favored.

The 5-year-old daughter of Ministers Wild Cat is a win machine, particularly on dirt, where she has eight victories from 10 starts in sprints. In one of her defeats she was eliminated at the start in the Hastings last year. In her other loss sprinting she got bumped at the start in a conditioned allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option at Emerald on June 12.

After settling into a stalking position, she finished with a rush to just miss by a nose to Frisco Frills, who took them all the way in the 5 1/2-furlong dash. She went into the race off a win in the $37,800 Molly Pitcher at Turf Paradise on March 11.

In total, Daffodil Sweet has compiled a 9-3-0 record from 16 starts for earnings of $177,171. Juan Gutierrez will be up when she breaks from post 4.